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Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain (R5150)

Shield AI· Hivemind Solutions Division – Chief Engineers
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Hybrid (Washington, D.C. / Dallas, Texas / San Diego, California)$210.9k - $316.3kFull Time EmployeePosted 4mo ago

About the role

Shield AI seeks a senior technical authority to define, deliver, and sustain autonomy capabilities for space-domain operations. The role focuses on mission-ready autonomy systems across multi-constellation/multi-orbit environments, ensuring reliable performance in constrained or contested conditions and delivering usable data products to mission users.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the senior technical authority for space-domain autonomy, accountable for mission architecture, software/system design, technical execution, product quality, technical risk, verification evidence, and customer technical confidence.
  • Define and evolve an autonomy architecture that supports end-to-end tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination across a heterogeneous space enterprise (satellites, hosted payloads, ground systems, mission applications, networks, cloud/edge, external data sources).
  • Lead the development of automatic and autonomous behaviors for multi-constellation and/or multi-orbit tasking (prioritization, scheduling, replanning, resource allocation, coordination, conflict resolution, dynamic mission demands).
  • Define technical approaches for autonomously selecting, cueing, configuring, and coordinating collection from payload classes (EO/IR, AIS, SAR, RF, SIGINT, communications, environmental, navigation, or third-party sources).
  • Architect and govern hybrid on-board and off-board processing strategies; establish where inference, data reduction, fusion, storage, prioritization, and dissemination execute considering constraints.
  • Lead the technical design of advanced exploitation capabilities (triage, sensor fusion, event detection, change detection, anomaly detection, provenance, confidence estimation, analyst-in-the-loop workflows).
  • Own the technical approach for dissemination of mission products (data formats, interfaces, routing, timeliness, metadata, access control, traceability, M2M integration, user delivery).
  • Establish coherent autonomy interfaces among spacecraft buses, payloads, avionics, flight software, communications, mission planning, ground control, cloud/edge, data platforms, and customer applications.
  • Drive technical rigor across requirements, CONOPS, architecture, ICDs, trade studies, test plans, verification matrices, KPIs, baselines.
  • Lead autonomy technical readiness for major milestones (concept/requirements reviews, design reviews, test-readiness, demonstrations, launch/commissioning support, on-orbit assessments, customer acceptance).
  • Define and execute a verification/validation strategy (modeling/simulation, digital engineering, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, mission rehearsal, operational test, on-orbit validation).
  • Identify and retire autonomy-specific risks (sensor/payload failures, link interruptions, data quality issues, resource exhaustion, model uncertainty, interface failures, cyber threats, unsafe automation).
  • Partner with product, program, mission operations, security, safety/mission assurance, payload, spacecraft, ground, cloud, and data-engineering leaders to balance performance, risk, cost, schedule, and commitments.
  • Serve as a senior technical counterpart for government customers, mission partners, suppliers, and internal executives; support capture, proposals, demonstrations, reviews, and acceptance.
  • Build and mentor a high-performing technical organization including staff engineers, autonomy developers, mission planners, data/ML engineers, test engineers, and domain experts.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, electrical/computer engineering, systems engineering, applied mathematics, robotics, physics, or related technical discipline; advanced degree preferred.
  • 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in autonomy, space systems, aerospace, robotics, mission systems, ISR, satellite operations, distributed systems, or related fields.
  • Demonstrated experience as a Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, Technical Director, Principal/Distinguished Engineer, IPT lead, or equivalent senior technical leader responsible for end-to-end system outcomes.
  • Significant experience designing, developing, integrating, testing, and operationalizing software-intensive mission systems with high reliability or certifiability requirements.
  • Technical depth in multiple areas (autonomous planning/scheduling/decision-making; space mission planning and operations; multi-orbit/multi-constellation tasking; embedded/edge/cloud/hybrid compute; on-board data processing and sensor fusion; ISR/RF/EO-SAR/communications/navigation payload processing; data-product generation and APIs; systems engineering lifecycle).
  • Experience leading a multidisciplinary, matrixed engineering organization without direct reporting control.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to explain trade-offs to engineers, executives, government customers, operators, and partners.
  • Experience supporting customer-facing technical work (proposals, solution architecture, test planning, reviews).

Skills

Required:Autonomy architecture designMission planning and multi-vehicle coordinationSystems engineering and verification

Benefits

  • Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
  • Temporary employee offer package (benefits after 60 days)
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Shield AI

Autonomy for the world.

Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

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